02/21/2007

Associated Press

A group that hopes to see both of Seattle's daily papers remain in business has asked a judge to invalidate a 1999 deal between the papers.

The Committee for a Two-Newspaper Town filed the motion in King County Superior Court on Tuesday, saying that Judge Greg Canova should find that the amended joint operating agreement the papers reached in 1999 violated the state Constitution.

Canova said he would hear arguments about the motion April 6. The owners of The Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer were expected to oppose it because they are trying to settle their dispute in private before an arbitrator.

"The case is complicated enough without this suit, and it will do nothing to preserve two newspapers," said Seattle Times spokeswoman Jill Mackie.

Under the JOA, reached in 1983 to save the failing P-I, The Times performs key business functions, including printing and handling ads, for both papers. In exchange it receives 60 percent of their joint profits.

The Times Co. has been fighting to escape the JOA since 2003, saying it is no longer financially viable. Hearst Corp., which owns the P-I, has disputed the right of The Times to end the agreement.

The Committee for a Two-Newspaper Town argues that the JOA, as it was amended in 1999, violates the state Constitution's restraint-of-trade clause because it would pay Hearst 32 percent of the profits until 2083 if it voluntarily closes the P-I.

"The key here is, there is an agreement between two competitors to eliminate one of the competing products," said Kathy George, one of the committee's lawyers.

The arbitrator hearing the dispute is expected to issue his ruling by the end of May.